


The Melancholy Song of Swinging Gates

by nikki_raves



Series: A Hidden Village [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Dark, Dark Magic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fae & Fairies, Fairy!Robbie, Heavy Angst, M/M, Slow Build, eventual sportarobbie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-11-12 03:46:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11153577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikki_raves/pseuds/nikki_raves
Summary: Robbie arrives in Lazytown and slowly attempts to put his life back together. He lives in fear that the Elves will find him, or that someone will send him back to those dreaded tunnels. When Sportacus comes and decides to stay, the small semblance of normalcy that Robbie had managed to create for himself shatters, and he is faced with major decisions.Part 2 of No One Had Told Us Victory Was Like This.EDIT: In light of the recent news regarding Stefan Karl, this fic will no longer be continued.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I am SOO sorry for the accidental hiatus! It was only meant to be a couple weeks and somehow it turned into two months. Now that I am on a small break from school I will be writing a lot more! Thanks for sticking around if you're still here! I know this is a short chapter but I will be making more soon. I just didn't want to stretch out the hiatus for even longer while I tried to make a longer chapter.

Robbie’s worn shoes clacked loudly against the cobblestone. He froze, wincing, waiting for a moment to make sure that the picturesque silence of the town did not change. When he heard nothing but the rustling of the leaves in the breeze, he crept forward again. The less noticed he went, the better.

Robbie wasn’t too sure about this place. Yes it was a fair distance away from the territory entrance, but it was not safe here. The town didn’t even have a fence around its border! How could it possibly keep out anyone?

He tiptoed around the perimeter of the town, looking for the best out-of-the-way place to lay low for a while. Robbie wasn’t sure why he didn’t just take off running for the nearest hiding place but he felt like if he ran, he would make too much noise, and right now that was risky. So instead he continued to creep along like an unwanted guest, feeling not much different from one.

*

Robbie found a small grocery store while he was walking. His stomach rumbled loudly and he squeezed it in frustration.

 _Shut up!_ he thought. It would be just his luck to get caught now because of his groaning stomach. _And_ he wasn’t about to get in trouble for thievery. Who knew what kind of bloodthirsty people might be living here? Robbie had to stay hidden.  

Still…his eyes trailed longingly over the “We’re open!” sign cheerfully attached to the door. Maybe he could just get something small…something to keep him over so he didn’t die of hunger.

Robbie looked down at his tattered, dust covered clothes. He couldn’t pass as a Lazytown citizen dressed like this, and he had no more magic to muster up a glamour. He signed, thinking.

His stomach rumbled again and it cut though his concentration. He _really_ couldn’t go in looking like this. It was just too risky. The people would immediately see him and attack him, or worse, send him back to the Elves.

Robbie blinked away tears, wishing for home, and continued walking around the periphery of the town.

By nightfall he came to a big open grassy space adorned with a billboard of a cow in a field. While that was a bit strange and random, Robbie figured he was as far away from the center of town as he could be, and so he decided to camp out behind the billboard until he figured something else out.

He hiked up around it, curled up on the grass, and closed his eyes. In the morning he would talk to the trees and get a feel for the surrounding areas. Maybe he’d try to find a new town that wasn’t so damn _quiet._

The eerie silence was starting to make him paranoid.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie tries to get his bearings in this new, strange town.

Viktor and Aris hid behind a tree near the territory’s entrance, waiting for the right moment. They had hashed out the details and rehearsed the plan many times—their idea to get Robbie back was _foolproof._

They knew that the Elves, along with the King and his son, were due to come outside any moment now. They were ready to kidnap the son, hold him hostage, and tell the King they would return him in exchange for Robbie.

The forest was still. It was as if every animal living amongst the trees was holding its breath, waiting alongside the two Faes.

Aris was silently going over the plan one last time in her head, accounting for every little step. She would not allow anything to go wrong and jeopardize their or Robbie’s safety.

The minutes dragged by and Aris heard Viktor huff impatiently behind her.

“What’s taking so long?” he grumbled. “They should have come out by now.”

“I know.” Aris shifted her weight to her other foot uneasily. “I wonder what’s happening.”

Finally, they saw the first signs of movement by the entrance. Aris squinted against the sunlight, trying to get a good look at the Elf that had appeared. If it was the King, then the first part of the plan could begin.

But it _wasn’t_ the King. It wasn’t even an Elf.

Aris watched Robbie drop his arms from around the King’s son and take off sprinting into the trees. He ran right by the two of them hiding and didn’t even see them.

“ _Robbie_??” Viktor shouted, taking off after him.

“Viktor, wait!” Aris raced after them.

*

“Where did he go? He was literally in front of us a few minutes ago,” Viktor complained, trying and failing to track Robbie.

“We only took our eyes off him for a second…” Aris scanned the tops of the trees. “Maybe he’s hiding up there because he doesn’t want to talk to us.”

“No, he hates heights. I doubt he’s willingly in a tree anywhere.”

Aris turned to him. “How do you know?” she asked. He shrugged.

“He mentioned it once in passing.”

“Ugh, the sun is going down. We won’t be able to track him in the dark.”

“Aris, I don’t like the idea of him in the woods in the dark on his own with no magic,” Viktor said flatly. “It isn’t safe for him.”

“I _know_ , but there isn’t a lot we can do right now, especially if he doesn’t want to be found.” Aris bent down slowly to sit cross-legged on the ground. “Wait! Do you know how to track someone’s aura?” She looked up hopefully.

Viktor shook his head. “No, I never learned how. You?” Aris glumly shook her head.

“Looks like we’re in for a long night then.”

Viktor started weaving a set of protective spells around them while Aris leaned against a tree and closed her eyes.

*

Robbie woke up to the sun on his face. He got up stiffly and stretched, working the knots out of his joints. Even after months of sleeping on the floor, his body never got used to it. He missed his bed back home. It was so _soft_ and warm, nothing like those horrible tunnels or _his_ bed…

“No,” Robbie said out loud. _Don’t think about that_

His stomach grumbled painfully. Robbie dragged his feet to the edge of the forest and plucked a few berries from their branches, daydreaming about the platters of cakes and cookies his mother always baked.

His mother. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about anyone but his brother for so long. Those memories felt like a lifetime ago. He wondered if she missed him, if she wondered about him at all. There’s no way she knew what he had been through; she probably thought he and Glanni were having the times of their lives traveling.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  

Robbie ate enough berries to stave off his hunger for another couple hours, so he set off to look for a more comfortable place to sleep. He squinted along the horizon, looking for a cave or a hole or something better than the patch of grass behind the billboard. He saw something he hadn’t noticed last night—a hatched door.

It was right behind the billboard, several feet away from where he slept. He walked over and examined it. The metal hatch was covered in cobwebs and rust. It was clearly abandoned and  seemed to lead somewhere underground. Robbie wasn’t particularly happy with that fact, but hiding underground was preferable to hiding in plain sight, so he tried to pull it up but it didn’t budge. He spun the hatch to the left and heard the groaning of metal-on-metal. When the hatch wouldn’t move anymore, Robbie pushed up the heavy lid and stared down into the darkness below.

Over the course of the night a little bit of magic energy had come back to him, so he whispered an incantation and a small ball of warm light appeared in his palm. He let it float down the entrance tunnel and watched it illuminate the space. It looked like some sort of underground bunker. Some sparse furniture lined the walls but it was empty for the most part.

_It doesn’t look so bad_ , he thought. He decided to check it out and slid down the entrance, closing the door behind him. He hit the ground with a soft thud and stood up, looking around.

There was a thick layer of dust that swirled up into small clouds around his feet wherever he walked. He snapped his fingers and the dust disappeared, leaving behind clean concrete floors that echoed with every step. Even that small bit of magic left him feeling drained, and he had to lean against the wall for support.

The most eye-catching thing in the room was a huge, fluffy orange chair that stood next to a fireplace. Robbie hadn’t seen it at first because the dust had made it blend into the background, but once that was gone the chair proudly stood out.  Robbie walked over to it and tentatively sat down, expecting a nest of rats to come swarming out or a family of spiders to poke through the orange fur, but none of that happened. He eased his worn body into the soft cushions and felt some of his tension melt away.

Robbie wanted to sleep, but his curiosity got the best of him. He got up and walked around the huge space, taking note of all the room’s features. There was a staircase that led him up to a balcony of sorts, although it was still indoors. The balcony had a series of tubes that housed outrageous costumes. Robbie had no idea what this bunker had been used for before, but whoever had owned it was an amazing designer. Before…everything happened…Robbie used to be pretty good himself. That and building things, those were always his fortes. He felt his stomach knotting up as his eyes trailed over the intricate embroideries on the outfits. Robbie turned away, feeling bitter and sad and angry all at once. He quickly wiped away the few tears that had managed to escape and decided to look through the rest of the rooms. If the previous inhabitant was this good at sewing, he probably left some other clothes around here as well. Maybe there was something in Robbie’s size so that he could go to the store and get some real food.

Robbie wandered into what must have been a bedroom and opened every door until he found the closet. It was a big walk-in one that had several shelves and chests, most of them empty. Robbie found a few outfits in the very back that had some potential. The least ostentatious one was a two-piece pinstripe suit.

“Is this really what he wore?” Robbie muttered to himself. Weren’t there any plain pants and shirts anywhere? He wanted to blend in, not stand out. Still…the suit was better than the rags he currently wore. With a sigh, he began pulling off some of the more elaborate gold designs in an effort to bring the outfit down a notch.

When it looked as good as it was going to get, Robbie pulled off the Elf clothes and tossed them in a corner. He avoided looking at his reflection and quickly yanked on the suit. It was a little big on him but that was ok; the most important thing was that it completely covered the enthrallment bands.

Robbie tried to fix his knotted hair with a plastic comb he found in the bathroom but it was a lost cause—he would have to get around to cutting it.

When he was as presentable as he could be, he climbed up the ladder that led outside and trudged in the direction of the supermarket.

*

He took the long way to avoid as many people as he could. The few he couldn’t did double takes, as if surprised to see a new person in their small town, and Robbie felt their eyes on him as he walked past them.

He finally reached the store and went inside. The cool blast of air conditioning hit him and he reveled in the feeling—it had been a _long_ time since he had felt electricity of any kind. Robbie wandered through the aisles until he found the snack aisle and longingly looked through box and after box of cupcakes, donuts, cookies, and other sugary sweets. He was wracked with guilt but didn’t know what else to do; he had no money and no friends to help so he was on his own. When the coast was clear, Robbie discreetly opened several boxes and shoved the contents inside his pockets, relieved that whoever had sewed his suit had thought to put so many pockets. Robbie adjusted the now-empty boxes on the shelf so that they didn’t stand out and slowly made his way to the exit. He tried to act calm but was hyperaware of the plastic shrink wrappers rustling inside his pockets.  Thankfully the store was mostly empty. He made a mental note to come back during similar hours to make sure that he didn’t run into too many people.

Robbie made it out of the store safely and released a deep breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

Once he was back at the bunker, Robbie emptied out his pockets on a small coffee table by the fireplace and ravenously dug in. He felt the sugar working its way into his body and rejoiced in the small trickle of energy that was slowly returning to him. He had sorely missed feeling in control, and in that moment he felt almost normal again.

Almost.


	3. Chapter 3

Why was it taking so damn long? It had been one week exactly. Seven days since he had escaped the tunnels and made his way to Lazytown. And still he had not fully regained his magic stores. 

Sending Signals took large amounts of magical energy, energy he didn't have yet. Robbie was itching to call for Glanni and the fact that he still couldn't was incredibly frustrating. His fear of being recaptured had faded a bit ever since he realized just how small and quiet the town really was, but Robbie wasn't ready to let his guard down completely. At the end of the day, he was still a Fae in an unknown city without the help of Court, and that combination was very, very unsafe. 

Robbie sat in the fluffy orange chair, staring into the empty fireplace. He felt weak and incomplete, like a part of him was missing. He was heavy and weary but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sleep more than an hour or two without waking up from the nightmares. 

He shook his head to clear it and rolled his sleeves up. The enthrallment bands glittered idly. Every day Robbie hoped that he would look at them and they would be shut off, like Aris', but every day he was disappointed. There was always a nagging fear in the back of Robbie's mind that the Elf could somehow use the bands to track Robbie no matter where he went. He was terrified that he would never truly escape, and those thoughts sickened him. 

Robbie shook his head again and jumped to his feet. He had to do something or else he would go crazy. Pulling up the waistband of his striped pants—which he was actually getting rather fond of after he had tailored it a bit to fit him better—Robbie clambered up the ladder and started walking around the town. If he kept himself busy somehow, maybe he wouldn't think of things that were better left in the past. 

*

"Maybe we should just go home, Aris."

"No! What if he's in trouble and he needs us?"

"It's been a week! We can't go around these woods forever trying to find him. I'm dying to see my own family too. We could have been home a week ago if this stuff hadn't happened."

"This stuff?? Viktor, this stuff happened because of us!"

"Well now everyone's free right?? We’re all out of the tunnels. So let's just go! Robbie clearly doesn't want us to find him! He's probably watching us from some hiding place right now, laughing at us for following after him like lovesick puppies."

Aris blinked away tears. "That's not true! He wouldn't!"

"Whatever Aris, I'm going home. Write me a letter sometime." 

Viktor snapped his fingers, and with a puff of blue smoke he was gone. Aris wiped her eyes with her sleeve and continued through the forest alone. 

*

Glanni crept silently through the forest, carefully examining the leaf-strewn floor as he went. There had to be a sign of Robbie somewhere, he just had to look hard enough. 

Every so often he'd switch to his Aural vision in an effort to track Robbie's aura, but so far Glanni had seen no sight of it. 

He stopped to catch his breath and leaned against a tree. 

"Robbie please, you have to be somewhere. Just point me in the right direction here," he begged the empty air. 

There was no response.

With a sound somewhere between a growl and a cry, Glanni continued on through the trees. He felt hopeless, but he couldn’t give up, not after all these months of trying.

*

"Hey, you! Who are you, and what are you doing on my playground?"

Robbie jumped at the sound. It had been a while since he'd seen anyone on his walking trails, so he was startled to see this child standing in his way, hands on his hips with an impatient look on his face. 

"Well?" the child prompted. 

"Get out of my way, kid," Robbie grumbled, starting to walk past the small child. 

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? I asked you a question mister!" 

"This isn't your playground," Robbie retorted. He had no idea why he was continuing this pointless conversation but he felt starved for interaction, even with an annoying kid. 

"Yes it is!" he huffed. "It's allllll mine."

"Stingy, who are you talking to?" another child called, running up to the two of them. He panted hard and struggled to stand before giving up and plopping to the ground.

"Ziggy this person thinks he can just walk through my playground for no reason!"

"This isn't _your_ playground," Ziggy said tiredly, as if he went through this same script every day. "It's everyone's!"

"Hmph," Stingy grumbled. "Who are you anyway? I've never seen _you_ before."

"I'm Robbie."

"Well Robbie you should leav--" Stingy started to say. 

"Do you want to play a game with us?" Ziggy asked from the ground. "It'll be fuuuuun."

"Ziggy, no!" Stingy whispered, softly kicking the younger boy's foot.

"Pleeeease," Ziggy whined. "Pixel said we need at least four people, and Trixie is sick."

Pixel? Trixie? How many other kids lived here? Robbie hadn't seen any sign of them until today.

“What kind of game?” Robbie asked curiously.

“Soccer Pro 5! Pixel just got it yesterday and he needs four people to play!”

“Uhh…no thanks,” Robbie said. Why was he saying no? How could he feel starved for interaction yet antisocial at the same time? None of these emotions made sense to him. All he knew was that he missed his brother something terrible. Every time his eyes scanned the forest he would longingly hope to see Glanni stumbling out, running towards him with his arms outstretched.

Robbie continued walking by despite the children’s protest, feeling guilty yet in no mood to entertain them. He just wanted to lie down.

*

Robbie woke with a start to the pounding on his door. Immediately his blood ran cold. How could the Elf have found him so quickly??

“Oh no oh no oh no oh no,” he panicked, leaping out of the orange chair. He looked around for something that could be used as a weapon. Robbie spotted an old poker leaning against the fireplace and grabbed it, holding it high and steeling himself against the worst.

Should he run and hide or fight? He didn’t want to give the Elf the satisfaction of seeing him cowering in some dusty corner, begging for his life. But Robbie was so _scared,_ he didn’t know if he had it in him to stand his ground.

He heard a heavy someone sliding down the slide and trembled in fear.

There was a _thud!_ and a soft yelp as that someone landed ungracefully on his butt.

Except it wasn’t the Elf.

“ _Ziggy??”_ Robbie spluttered, still holding the poker high above his head. “What are you doing here?!”

“I followed you to see when you wanted to play video games with us!” the child said cheerfully, rubbing his back gingerly. Robbie stood at a loss for words. Should he be annoyed that a random child followed him to his hiding spot or touched that someone cared enough to ask him to play? Maybe a little bit of both?

Robbie set down the poker with a huff.

“Scram kid, I _don’t_ want to play,” he grumbled. His heart was still racing and the adrenaline was still pumping through his body. All he wanted right now was a nice, quiet place to calm down. “Don’t follow me again, it creeps me out.”

“Okay.” Ziggy hung his head and waddled over to the ladder. He climbed the first rung and then slipped back down to the floor.

“Having some trouble?” Robbie asked, cocking an eyebrow incredulously.

“I’ve never climbed a ladder before,” the boy admitted. Robbie sighed. Of course this would happen.

“Climb on my back,” he mumbled, crouching down to Ziggy’s height. Ziggy clambered onto him and Robbie sagged a little under the weight. A flash of sadness coursed through him when he remembered the days in his Court where he could outrun anyone, outfly everyone. He had been so strong and so healthy…now he could barely climb up a ladder.

Once he reached the top, Robbie crawled through the latch that Ziggy had left open and plopped down onto the grass.

“Alright kid, your stop.”

Ziggy climbed off and raced down the hill, shouting “Thanks Robbie!” behind him.

*

Robbie wandered through the town. It was a sunny afternoon and he had nothing better to do so there he was, strolling through the streets. He found a bench and lay down on it, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his cold body. Ever since he had gotten out of those tunnels, he just couldn’t seem to get warm enough…

“Hey Robbie!” a child yelled. Robbie jolted upright and looked wildly around.

“Someone’s jumpy,” another child snickered. Robbie narrowed his eyes. It was Stingy and another girl that Robbie didn’t recognize.

“Can I help you?” Robbie demanded. “I was _trying_ to get some sleep.”

“We just came to find the controller that _someone_ lost,” Stingy said, glaring at Trixie, “and saw you lying here. We wanted to make sure you weren’t dead.”

“Well I’m definitely not dead, so you can both leave now,” Robbie said, lying back down on the bench.

“Are you sure?” the girl snorted. “You’re pale as a ghost!”

Robbie opened one eye irately. “Who are _you_?”

“Trixie,” she said proudly.

“Trixie, _go away_.”

“Hey look! There’s Pixel with the controller!” Stingy yelled suddenly, waving at a figure in the distance. He grabbed Trixie and took off running, their footsteps fading behind them.

“Finally,” Robbie murmured, closing his eyes again. While the kids stayed indoors and _silent_ , maybe he could catch up on some much-needed sleep.

*

Robbie’s shirt had torn. He had been in the forest, trying to talk to the trees when his sleeve snagged on a branch and ripped.

He rummaged through the drawers and shelves in the closet, looking for the sewing kit. It _had_ to be around here somewhere! He had just used it last week. Where could it be hiding…?

Robbie pulled open a particularly heavy chest and yanked the lid open.

Inside were pieces of twisted metal, pipes, nuts and bolts, and some tools. Robbie’s stomach twisted when he remembered all the things he had built, things that probably still stood on his workbench table, covered in cobwebs and dust. He wondered if someone had tried to complete his half-finished prototypes, if someone poured over the blueprint designs the same way he had, or if someone had just locked the door to the workshop and thrown away the key. He wanted to believe that his family was looking after his things until he returned with Glanni. He wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t. It all seemed too distant. His friends, his family, his house…it all felt like a different life.

Robbie slammed the chest’s lid shut and shoved it back behind the closet door. He couldn’t bring himself to tinker with the parts. Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of a two-part chapter. AKA the calm before the storm ;)


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days passed in a sunny haze. His routine was the same: each morning he lay down on his favorite bench in the sun and absorbed its rays. Every day the children pestered him, and although he had yet to agree to their offers of games and supposed fun, Robbie secretly enjoyed their company. Just not when they were so loud. Thankfully they stayed indoors most of the time.

So began his third week in Lazytown. Robbie _still_ hadn’t fully powered up his magic stores. He knew it should concern him, but he was really settling into the rhythm of the town. He knew he was being selfish, but the peace and quiet did something to him, started healing him in a way nothing else could. It was almost as if he was on vacation, at least that’s how he felt. The town felt…magical almost, like it was in a completely different world. Of course he wanted to go home, but right now…well right now he kind of didn’t want to leave.

Robbie heard a gaggle of voices and looked up, expecting to see the kids walking over to Pixel’s house to play another game. They were all chattering excitedly, more animated than usual. Robbie saw a taller figure among them, a girl with bubblegum pink hair. She looked to be a couple of years older. What was that in her hand…?

A soccer ball came flying towards Robbie and hit him on the shoulder.

“Ouch!” he yelped. Where the hell had that come from? He bent down to retrieve it and saw the kids running towards him. Stingy held his hands out for the ball and Robbie tossed it over.

So that’s what the pink girl had been holding. Apparently she was teaching the kids how to use it. A soccer ball would mean more noise to deal with…Robbie would have to adjust his schedule to avoid seeing the kids while they played. He needed the picturesque town to stay quiet so he could regain his own sanity. And he definitely did not need more soccer balls hitting him.

“Wanna play Robbie?” Ziggy asked. “Stephanie is teaching us how to play _real_ soccer!”

“I still think it’s better on the computer,” Pixel grumbled from the back of the group. Stephanie turned to him and smiled.

“Don’t worry Pixel, it’ll grow on you!” she promised.

“So you’re _Stephanie_? The new girl who’s making all this noise?” Robbie grumbled.

“Noise?” she crinkled her nose. “But playing outside is so much better than being stuck inside all day.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Robbie huffed. “Go play somewhere else.”

“But my uncle said we could play in the park!” Stephanie argued.

“ _Fine,_ I’ll go somewhere else.”

Robbie stood up to leave but he saw someone else coming towards them. A short, balding man approached the group.

“Ah Stephanie, there you are. I found the mailing tube I was telling you about,” he said, holding up a cylindrical tube. Robbie peered at it curiously. What was it?

“Thank you Uncle!” Stephanie said. “I can’t wait to send it out!”

“Hi Mayor Meanswell,” Ziggy waved. “What is that thing?”

“Hmm, I suppose I should tell you all the story then,” the mayor said, looking around at the kids. His eyes swept over Robbie and he frowned.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Mayor Milford Meanswell.”

Robbie grabbed the proffered hand. “Robbie Rotten. I’m uh…new in town.”

“Just like my niece!” he beamed at Stephanie. “Hopefully you will like it here in Lazytown.”

“Can we hear the story now?” Ziggy begged. The mayor laughed and reached down to pat the boy’s head.

“Of course. Have a seat, everyone,” he said, sitting down on the bench. He eyed Robbie, who was still standing, and nodded at the space next to him on the bench. “You’re welcome to join us, Mr. Rotten.”

“Um, I’ll sit here, thanks,” Robbie said, crouching down on the ground next to Pixel.

The mayor held up the tube for all to see and cleared his throat.

“Lazytown wasn’t always so quiet and, well, _lazy._ Long ago, there was a hero who came from an island in the North Sea. I can’t remember his name, but there was a big number 9 on his chest and he moved around all the time. He lived in a big airship in the sky, and when people wanted to contact him, they would write letters and put them in these tubes. Over there by the mailbox there’s an airmail tube that they would use to send their letters. You just pull the lever and the letter shoots up into the sky where he received it, and—oh, where are you going, Mr. Rotten?”

Robbie’s head was spinning. He had to get out of there _now._ He couldn’t stay another day or else they would find him. He sprinted back to his bunker to gather some things and make a plan. The nausea was threatening to overwhelm him and he barely made it back home in time before he collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

He remembered the stories of the numbered heroes who lived in airships, the warning stories his mother had told him and Glanni when they were kids. They weren’t just heroes, they were _Elves._ And judging by Stephanie’s excitement, she’d call for a hero that _day_ , and Robbie simply couldn’t be around for that.

Robbie grabbed a backpack and started filling it with things he’d need until his magic returned. While scouting the bunker for possible weapons, he noticed a lever on the wall, one he’d never seen before. What if it led to a secret room or something he could hide in for the time being? It wouldn’t surprise him, considering all the other secrets the bunker had been hiding. Robbie pulled it and—

“Ouch!” he shrieked as something heavy landed on his head. He took a step back and saw what looked like a pipe with an eyepiece hanging in front of him. Curiosity overpowering him, he looked through the eyepiece and realized he could see the entire town.

A periscope! The one he had back home looked nothing this, which explained why Robbie didn’t immediately recognize what it was. He wished he had found it earlier; it would have saved him a lot of unwanted encounters with people. Robbie angled it towards the mailbox. Weeds and cobwebs covered the airmail tube and Robbie exhaled in relief. So the little pink girl still hadn’t sent the letter. Good. That bought him some time to get his things together.

*

Aris was _mad_. She was mad at Viktor for abandoning her and she was mad at the trees for being vague and unhelpful. She had asked every tree she saw for the last mile if they knew anything at all about Robbie, and they just kept directing her to walk forward.

She put her hand on a tall, gnarled tree trunk and closed her eyes.

_I am Aris, daughter of the Sunset Court. Please, I am begging for information on my friend. Can you help me?_

Aris felt the energy of the tree shift slightly under her fingertips as the tree awoke.

_Go forward until you see him._

Aris pursed her lips in frustration. _How much further?_ she asked.

_He is by the oak with few leaves._

Aris felt the tree quiet down and knew she wouldn’t get any more answers out of it. Well, at least it had been slightly more helpful than the other trees. Keeping her eyes open for an oak tree, she continued forward.

*

“Can you fucking trees be any less helpful?” Glanni growled, angrily punching the latest tree he had tried to glean information from. Would it really kill them to be a little more specific? How could he just keep walking with no destination?

He stared at the empty forest around him, wishing that a signal would fall from the sky and guide him to his brother.

*

Aris walked for another mile. How big was this damn forest? It felt like it went on forever.

One foot in front, then the other. Gradually she made progress, fighting the bone-deep exhaustion she felt with every step.

“He’s by the oak, he’s by the oak,” she recited to herself, trying desperately to keep her motivation alive.

She scanned the treetops, looking for the oak. All the trees so far were lush with leaves.

Another quarter mile. Still nothing.

Half mile.

¾ mile.

Then she heard rustling. She stood stock-still and listened. There was a slight breeze that whispered through the tree tops, but the sound she had heard seemed…forced. Manmade. She squinted ahead and saw a tall skinny figure standing next to a tree.

Slowly, daring to hope, Aris trailed her eyes up the trunk and saw naked branches.

“Robbie!” she screamed, exhaustion forgotten as she sprinted through the forest towards the one person she had spent weeks trying to find. Her tears blurred her vision and she tripped over every loose branch but she scrambled to her feet and kept running.

She collided with him hard, sending him flying onto his back. Aris wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest.

“Robbie I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, we never meant to leave you, we always meant to come back! We had a plan but then you escaped and since then I’ve been looking for you!”

He stopped moving, then raised his head to look at her.

“Robbie? You know my brother?”

“W-what?” she asked, lifting her head to stare dead straight into the face of someone who was definitely not Robbie. “Oh gods, I’m sorry, I thought—I thought you were—”

“Robbie?” he asked.

“Y-yes, I—I’ve been looking for him for a while, and you looked…”

“I’m Glanni, his—”

“Brother,” Aris breathed. “You guys were traveling together.”

Glanni frowned. “Yes, but how did you—”

“Robbie told me. Told us. Down in the tunnels, when we were…when we were prisoners.”

They stared at each other wordlessly, each wanting to hear what the other had to say. Finally, Glanni broke the silence.

“Could you maybe get off of me?” he asked. Suddenly Aris realized she was still pinning him down.

“Oh! Oh yes, I’m sorry, I—” she trailed off and scrambled off him, holding out her hand to help him up. He grabbed it and brushed himself off.

“I’m Aris,” she said. “And I think the trees wanted us to find each other.”

“I’ve been asking them for months. They never said anything helpful to me,” Glanni muttered, shooting a look of disgust at the oak next to him.

“I think we have a lot of catching up to do,” Aris said gently.

*

Robbie was on edge, every little sound setting him off. His eyes kept darting to the door, half expecting to see Hrafn come shooting through the slide into his living room. Robbie picked at the edge of his bands, wishing he could just rip them off. They shone ominously in the dark bunker, their faint emerald light making him feel like he was in the tunnels all over again. He yanked the sleeves down over them, snuffing out the light.

He was working on the clothes that he had worn when he escaped from the tunnels. Although he hated them, they blended in perfectly in the forest. The clothes he was wearing right now were just too conspicuous. Robbie just had to finish sewing up a few more rips and then he was out of Lazytown forever.

He looked through the periscope again. The airmail tube remained unused. So far, so good.

Then he heard voices. He spun the periscope around and saw Stephanie and her uncle walking towards the mailbox. Stephanie waved the letter tube in her hand excitedly.

“No no no NO NO,” Robbie shouted. It was too soon! It had only been, what, fifteen minutes since the mayor had told her the story? But it didn’t matter now, he was out of time.

“Shit shit shit!” Robbie yelled, shoving the unfinished clothes into his backpack. He scrambled up the ladder and was out of the bunker before Stephanie had finished her sentence.

Robbie sprinted towards the mailbox. He had to buy himself more time. He had no idea where he would go after this; he needed time to build a plan, time to figure out what was going on with his magic.

“No, Stephanie wait!” he yelled when she came into view. Time seemed to slow down as he ran towards her. He watched her insert the letter tube and pull the lever.

No. He was too late.

The tube shot into the sky, and Robbie fell to his knees, panting for breath.

_Please don’t work, please don’t work_ , he begged silently. Maybe the numbered heroes had all died off. Maybe no one would respond to a child’s letter.

“Hello Mr. Rotten,” the mayor said pleasantly, as if he hadn’t just caused Robbie’s world to come crashing down around him. “Are you feeling alright? You look a little green.”

Robbie locked eyes with the mayor, ready to open his mouth and shout every obscenity he knew, when a blue paper airplane came soaring through the air and landed daintily in front of him.

“Oh look, Uncle! He responded!”

Stephanie unfolded the airplane and read the words written on it.

_“Help is on the way.”_

“When do you think he’ll get here, Uncle?” she asked.

Robbie couldn’t move. He was rooted to the spot in absolute horror. All of his work, all of his efforts to escape would be unraveled by a bumbling mayor and his obnoxiously pink-haired niece.

Through the clouds above came a big blue airship.

“Right now, I would say,” the mayor said.

A ladder dropped from the bottom of the airship and unfurled next to the three of them. A figure in all blue descended and dropped neatly to his feet.

“Are you Number Nine?” Stephanie asked eagerly.

“Nope! I am Number 10,” he answered, flipping around so that she could read the big number ‘10’ embroidered into his vest. He turned back around and held out his hand to her.

“My name is Sportacus.”


	5. Chapter 5

“My name is Sportacus.”

The words echoed hollowly in Robbie’s mind as his vision went blurry. He stared unseeingly at the blue numbered hero standing a distance away from him. He imagined his enthrallment bands burning under his sleeves, and his backpack felt a million pounds. Robbie hated himself for ending up right where he had begun—at the feet of an Elf. He thought that once he was out of the tunnels he would have the upper hand, that between his magic and his knowledge of the forest the Elves could never find him again.

The reality of what had just happened started to sink in as Robbie looked into the smiling face of the hero before him.

Then something clicked in Robbie’s mind. The Elf hadn’t seen him, not yet. He was too busy making pleasantries with the mayor, no doubt already formulating a plan of how to enslave everyone in the town. That meant Robbie still had a few crucial seconds to escape. Although he didn’t have his magic yet, he did have his brain.

Robbie crept back a few inches until he felt the stone fence that ran through the town square. While the Elf had his back turned, gesturing emphatically at the mayor, Robbie quickly jumped over the fence and took off running.

He saw the edge of the forest come into his view, and he choked back a sob of relief. Once he was under the safety of the trees he could change into his other clothes and ask the trees where Glanni was. Although sometimes they were vague and unhelpful, right now the trees were Robbie’s lifeline.

Suddenly his foot caught on something and he came crashing down. A burning pain lit up his leg and he knew something bad had just happened.

“Shit, no no, you’re ok, come on, you’re ok,” Robbie muttered to himself, slowly getting up. He gingerly put some weight on his leg and it crumpled beneath him. “You’ve got to be fucking joking me.”

He would just have to crawl. The forest was so close; once he stepped into its sphere of influence he would be fine. Just a little further…

Robbie heard pounding footsteps behind him, and his heart jumped into his throat. This was an out-of-the-way path, the townspeople never came this way. Surely it couldn’t be—

“Hey there! Are you alright?” a slightly accented voice called.

Robbie’s blood turned to ice, and he froze mid-crawl. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his muscles were paralyzed with fear.

“Let me help you up,” the voice offered. Robbie felt a hand on his shoulder and suddenly he found he could move. He swung his arm out and lashed at the Elf’s face, feeling the familiar glow of magic surging through his fingertips. The Elf gasped in surprise and Robbie saw bright red claw marks on his cheek. But how?? Robbie’s magic hadn’t worked in _weeks._ But he didn’t have time to figure that out right now.

Robbie and the Elf stared at each other in shock for a few seconds before Robbie scrambled to his feet and used the adrenaline pumping through his body to get him to the edge of the forest.

“Hey, wait!” the Elf called, running after Robbie.

“Stay away from me!” Robbie cried, willing his leg to get him just a few more feet further.

Ten more steps and Robbie would be protected.

Five more…

Robbie felt a hand close around his arm and he screamed in sheer panic. He tried to rip his arm out of the Elf’s grasp and then felt his enthrallment bands light up.

“Ouch, let go!” he yelled at the Elf, the pain of the bands making his eyes water. A look of concern—obviously fake, Robbie noted—crossed the Elf’s face before he let go. Robbie fell to his knees and cradled his arms, not even daring to breathe until he felt the burn ebbing away. He coughed a few times to hide his groans of pain.

“Are you alright?” the Elf asked, crouching down next to Robbie. “What’s going on?”

“Like you don’t know,” Robbie spat with as much venom he could muster. He noted with satisfaction that the claw marks on the Elf’s face were still a bright, angry red.

“No, I really don’t,” the Elf said, so convincing that Robbie almost believed him.

“Get away from me,” Robbie growled, crawling to the trees.

“Where are you going? It’s almost nighttime, you won’t be safe out there.”

Robbie almost laughed at the irony. The forest was the safest place for him! Surely the Elf had guessed by now that he wasn’t fully human. Surely this was all a ploy to get Robbie away from the trees so that the Elf could finally hurt him.

“If you try to stop me, I will kill you,” Robbie said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

The Elf frowned. “I wouldn’t do that. But I will come with you, to make sure you are safe.”

An Elf in a Court-owned forest? That was rich.

But then again…the forest would definitely view a lone Elf as an intruder. Maybe Robbie could use that to his advantage and order the trees to finally get rid of the numbered hero.

“Fine,” Robbie muttered.

“But first, let me heal your leg.”

“No wait, don’t touch me—” Robbie started, but the Elf gently wrapped his hands around Robbie’s calf and started murmuring words in another language. A warm sensation crept down his leg and concentrated in his ankle. A moment later the warmth dissipated and Robbie knew his ankle was mended. He gingerly got up and took a few steps, feeling no pain.

Robbie refused to acknowledge the Elf, and instead crossed the small distance between himself and woods, the Elf following close behind.

*

“So it _was_ Elves! I suspected, but I couldn’t know for sure. And I even passed the entrance to the tunnels a few times while I was searching! I was so close but I still couldn’t help him.”

Glanni miserably plucked blades of grass from the dirt, shredding them apart before grabbing another handful. Aris watched the pile of grass strips grow taller and taller, not sure how to console him.

“There’s no way you could have known,” she began after a short silence. “The Elves did a very good job of disguising their entrances. Unless you know it’s there, you cannot find it.”

“I should have found some way,” Glanni groaned. “All those months down there…he must have thought I abandoned him.”

“No, I know that he did not think you had given up on him,” Aris said firmly.

“How can you be so sure?” he asked.

“Robbie once told me that the Elf showed you to him, so he knew you were looking for him as hard as you could.”

“Wait, _what_?” Glanni stuttered. “How?”

“I’m not sure of the details,” Aris said, shifting into a more comfortable position on the forest floor. “But it was some kind of Elven magic.”

“Aris, how can we find him?” he rubbed his face tiredly, feeling both the closest to and the farthest from his brother in that moment.

“The only thing we can do is keep trying to track him with your Aural sight. It’s the fastest way.”

Glanni waved his hand through the grass pile between his legs, watching the shreds of grass drift away. “And still not fast enough.”

*

Robbie took his first few steps into the woods and felt the familiar presence of the trees around him. To his left, he saw the Elf shift uncomfortably, no doubt feeling the forest’s hostility. Robbie smiled smugly. He had the advantage here.

“You know, I haven’t felt this unwanted in a forest in a long time. I guess I’d forgotten what it felt like,” the Elf laughed nervously.

Robbie wanted to ignore everything the Elf said, but something about that sentence didn’t sound quite right.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I was in a town a few years ago that had a Fae forest surrounding it. Eventually I got permission to enter it so I could work with the Fae, but until I did it felt a lot like this.”

An Elf? Working with the Faes?

“How stupid do you think I am?” Robbie snarled, his palms starting to heat up. “I could have these trees kill you in a heartbeat, but you’re still keeping up this fake story?”

“What?” The Elf asked, looking genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Why don’t you tell me what you really want, Elf.” Robbie’s palms lit up with a sinister green light, and although he was ecstatic that he was slowly getting his magic back, he stayed focused on the man before him.

Understanding dawned on the Elf’s face and he touched the claw marks on his cheek.

“You’re a Fae,” he said slowly.

“Of course I am,” Robbie snapped. Obviously the Elf knew this. Why else would he have come to Lazytown? “I am _not_ going to let you take me back.”

The two men stared at each other and the silence grew. After a few moments the Elf spoke.

“Take you back where?”

Robbie looked at the Elf blankly. What was the point of keeping up the pretense?

“I know you know that I know why you’re here.”

“Wait, _what_??” The Elf shook his head. “I’m here because Stephanie called me. When I get called to a town it means that I am needed there. This town has not had a hero in a long time, so I answered her letter and flew my ship here. I don’t know who you are. Actually, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m—”

“ _Sportacus_. I know, I heard,” Robbie sneered. What kind of a stupid name was that, anyway? But the Elf was a good liar, Robbie had to give him credit for that. The wide-eyed look of confusion, the innocent face, the childish blue hat on his head…all of it created a very believable character. But that was how they drew you in.

Robbie screwed his eyes shut and willed the trees to attack. He heard Sportacus shout in shock and, without opening his eyes, raced deeper into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys
> 
> I had really wanted to post regular updates on these stories but the last several months I've just been really anxious. In the past I've had it under control but lately it's just been really tough. I'm trying to manage it better because I really like writing and it usually makes me feel better, but finding the motivation to start is so difficult. To the people who have stuck out this long and are still reading this, you cannot imagine how I feel when I see notifications from you guys. No matter what you have to say, it always makes me feel better reading what you post. So thank you so much for being there! It makes me feel less alone.
> 
> -Nikki <3


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